Eating My Garden: Space To Garden, Ocean Vu

October 25, 2009

Space To Garden, Ocean Vu

Let me introduce you to someone, my father-in-law, Bill Rihn. A retired engineer, Bill is one of those people who sees a need for something and then moves forward to make it happen. You might find him tutoring in his local public schools, working in political campaigns, or spearheading efforts to protect the environment in his California beachside community.

Most recently, Bill and his neighbors in South Laguna Beach have rolled up their sleeves (literally) and moved mountains (of dirt). They've taken a patch of land and, with the generous consent of the property owner, obtained city permits, solicited donations for plumbing, constructed raised beds, brought in topsoil, and installed a shed. As a result of their vision and sweat equity, an idle piece of real estate has been transformed into the South Laguna Community Garden. (Bill is pictured above with Shary Seltzer, who painted the sign.)
http://www.southlaguna.org/garden/Photos.html

After a summer's worth of planning and hard work, the group is installing the last few planting boxes now, and plots are being assigned. The garden is officially a project of the South Laguna Civic Association, of which Bill is president. While having an umbrella organization in place probably made some of the start-up aspects easier, any group of dedicated individuals could create such a garden.

Events to mark the garden's official opening are now being planned, and I know this group would like to start things in a big way by welcoming a very special guest. Mrs. Obama, are you interested in a trip to Laguna Beach to meet some community volunteers? You can't beat a garden with an ocean view.

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Preface

Following a diagnosis of breast cancer in October 2007, I launched a blog that chronicled the ups and downs of illness and treatment. The readers of that blog (http://merelyadetour.blogspot.com/) accompanied me as I conducted medical research, dealt with hair loss, talked to doctors, and generally slogged through the day-to-day experience of being a breast cancer patient. Hopefully, the readers of the first blog found it to be informative, occasionally smile-inducing, and worthy of their attention. Once my medical sidetrip wound down and I regained my strength, I imagined I might have a new perspective, but did I? Still unsure where my detour had left me, I returned to the familiar, like my job as a legal investigator, but I also tried some new approaches, like supplementing my interest in cooking with growing as much organic produce in our yard as possible. Admittedly, this blog has sputtered at times, but it still inches forward, just like the tiny green worms who are eating my garden, one basil leaf at a time.

Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. of tomatillos, husked and washed
2 jalapeno chilies, stemmed and seeded
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 medium onion
handful of cilantro
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
Roughly chop the tomatillos and the jalapenos and place in a blender or food processor with the water. Pulse a few times until the mixture is chunky. Add the onion, cilantro and the salt and puree until no more large chunks remain.

This salsa stands up on its own to chips or tacos, or you can add some avocado and lime juice to this mix to achieve a smoother, tangy salsa. The base recipe is from Mesa Mexicana by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.

Eating My Garden